Fun Vampires

Col. Mustard had a great way of describing somthing I have felt today. Fun Vampires! I love it! They are the people that when they walk into the room all the life is sucked right out of it (or so they try). We are working on anti-fun sucking garlic serum for these people. I am not quite sure what “fun vampires” get out of the action other than....trying their best to make certain that everyone is as miserable as they are....Doesnt work on me most times and definately not as long as sunshine, kids and animals are involved.

Addendum: I have been in entire towns where everyone is a FUN VAMPIRE....completely trying to suck the life out of you. I may have to start a fun vampire map so that my friends can avoid these areas that I encounter during my travels!

Happy Friday!

S

~Home- Simple Minds

God gave me travelling shoes, God gave me the wanderer’s eye,
God gave me a few gold coins to help me to the other side.
Looked around and said: be careful how small things grow,
God gave me travelling shoes and I knew that it was time to go.

Sent in the ship at night to take me to the hidden port.
Found me the key at last to open up the prison door.
Brought down the blackbird's wings, gifted me with beggar's eyes.
Sent in the jackals to tell me I should say bye, bye, bye.

I'm home, home,
Home, home, home
And I'm home, home,
home, home, home
But I'm miles and miles and miles and miles and miles away
Where can I hide?

God gave me one last chance, gave me one last reprieve.
Jah gave me hunger, gave me the air to breathe.
Gave me one suitcase, gave me one last goodbye
Gave me travelling shoes, without them I would surely die, die, die

Home, home
Home, home, home (2x)

Thanks Ferry :-)

Random Ruminations on my flight to JFK

If I had seven days and I and I knew it...what would I do...what would I change....what would I do to help others...who would I talk to...what would I say? Why would I say it...

It is the eyes of the children that keep me alive...

I will like you because you are a good person...You are good and kind even when people are not watching you....

The vibrations of the sound of life, smells and music resonate thoughout my life.....

When I surrounded by the less fortunate it reminds me of my of how fortunate I am....would you tell me your story?

I have a thyroid contdition....not cancer...not fatal...not congenital heart disease.....I am so fortunate...

I have lived the lives of many...I have been farther and saw more of life than 99% of the individuals on this planet we call earth.....If I can just give a smile to give life and hope to others it will all be good...I am so fortunate.

There are so many things that I want to do....I just want the time to do everything that excites me..... I am so afraid of time running out....

I miss my kids... . I miss my dog...I miss everything related to family... but yet I am still here kicking away....trying to make a difference...

Freedom is my life and you know how I feel.... the hum of life it is what keeps me going.... to watch and to feel is all I know....I am a simpelton and a hermit...but loving every moment I have to view it all is a wonderful thing....

Hugs from the sky...

Susan has now not only survived a tornado, sandstorm, torrential downpour with thunder and lighting but a nice little sting from a scorpion

I have survived a lot in my life, I am a warrior and my family and friends know it...

Highlights: Tornado's while growing up, Massive earthquakes in CA, the military stuff, the Berkeley Hills fire, Berkeley in general, turf wars of gangs in Oakland which is kind of like being taken out by the Masai, 9-11, tropical depressions on a faraway island, almost being bought as the 26th wife by a Masai tribesman in Africa, Malaria from India....you know the usual girl from Indiana stuff.

The funny thing about it is that as much as life throws at me, I take a deep breath and am happy to be alive, hopefully a little wiser in the process learning from my mistakes and adventures but none the less happy to be six ft above ground everyday when I open my eyes. I have all my fingers and toes, two healthy children, a roof over my head, food in my kids mouths, a wonderful inner circle and no one is shooting at me (currently, hopefully not anytime soon either). It is all just a journey and I am sucking it all in! So the thoughts for this week (as I am returning to NYC for approx a month for surgery)is the following:

I never knew that the UAE and Oman had tornado's, lightening like I have never seen and thunder that is like a nuke going off in your bedroom, torrential downpours that flood the highways, Sandstorms (I knew about these) However my newest surprise decided that the weather outside was to dangerous and wet for his or her liking and decided to come into my car (through a vent perhaps, who knows) and as I finished dinner at the Intercontinental with my favorite Canadians I went into my car and sat down and got a huge sharp sting in my lower back! Ouch! I put my hand back there to see if I could find what stung me but no luck. I could feel the pain radiating out and feeling kind of funny. I called Dr. Bill on my way back to the camp and told him what had happened. I was only 5 minutes from home. So I got there he gave me massive dose of antihistimines, a glass of white wine and then cleaned the area and looked for a stinger of some sort. No stinger... He suspected a scorpion. No biggie he didn't hit me by my heart! So I fell asleep with ice on my back, and the Dr. Watching over me as I slept on the couch. No anaphylectic shock today.

So when I returned to the car the next day my friend R~ made me check my car before getting in...and sure enough there was a dead scorpion on the floor mat of my car....Oh well at least I now have immunities to one of the 27 or so species that exist in the desert! 26 to go....eh it wasn't that bad....I am still 6ft above ground, however will be a bit more careful when climbing into ground related structures...

Much love to all, your crazy geek in the desert,

Susan

Coffee by Jahnjeer

One of my favorite parts of my day is when Jahnjeer brings me coffee and water in the morning.

Jahnjeer is from Bangladesh, he speaks four languages (including english), is smart as a whip and is such a wonderful human being with a kind heart. When he brings my coffee into my office in the morning, he teaches me something new every day. A greeting or word of the day a custom I don't quite grasp, really helpful.

As the day continues on he knows exactly when my coffee cup is empty and that I have two cups (I prefer Turkish but nescafe does quite nicely) I drink 4-6 cans of Canadian club soda, I love pumpkin seeds and pistachios and a wonderful cup of herbal tea in the afternoon around 1430.

He takes care of me...he reminds me when it is closing time (as the absent minded geek I am I always lose track of time and would most likely forget that the world exists outside of my office). He used to wait until I left for the day, however, he figured out that I really had no sense of time or when the work day was over when I kept going until 2000hrs.

He then realized that I was a "geek" and had absolutely no sense of time and he began to make a habit of coming in to remind me that the work day was over, I should go out and get a bit of sun and run my errands so that I could start the day fresh again tomorrow.

This man who is the "office boy" is a talented, multilingual, genuine gem who upon my arrival back from NYC along with the other special people in my world, will get a present of hugs and possibly other things from the opposite side of the globe...

From Dubai with love to all,

Susan

In my passport case....

In my passport case is the following:

My Passport (obviously)

International Drivers Liscence

Pictures of my family

Various denominations of money (including a 500,000 dollar bill from Zimbabwe given to me from a friend for the kids)

and the most important through all of the moves:

Four cards given to me by my favorite sister in law (hidden in various places in my Chicago Apt at the time so that I would turn a corner or open a drawer and smile). Whenever I doubt myself I pull them out and look at them.

1. Dare to be remarkable

2. Never, never, never ever give up.

3. Yesterday is history tomorrow is a mystery TODAY is a gift.

and 4: Live with intention. walk to the edge. listen hard. play with abandon. laugh. choose with no regret. continue to learn. appreciate your friends. do what you love. live as if this is all there is....~Mary anne radmacher.

Thank you Darlene for the constant reminder that I am here for today...and I will live for it...

Much love,

Susan

The Model UN: The UAE

Living in the UAE is absolutely fascinating. Especially from a cultural perspective.

My office for instance: We have representations from all around the world: Syria, UAE, Egyptian, USA, Pakistan, Bangledesh, India, Oman, Sudan, etc.... We all work side by side.

It reminds me of NYC in a way.

I have had no problems with anyone since my arrival. I have been in the middle of the desert, the middle of industrial areas, work camps, regions, and I have always felt warmly welcomed even as the only blonde female (or just female for that matter) for a couple of km.

I think the most fun that I have had was on the Prophet Mohammeds birthday. I saw a group of workers (all different nationalities) playing soccer in the dust (by where the camels live). I stopped got out of my car and in my broken, Arabic, Hindi and Urdu mix asked if I could play with them. Although I wasnt able to "high five" any of them because they were all men, I had a blast, laughed, smiled and got dusty with all of them.

The other fun place I have gone is the Intercontinental in Al Ain. There is always a traditional wedding festivity, a bunch of expats and a broad mix of locals. I go to the horse and jockey (british pub) and sit out on the veranda and get on the internet and watch people. The crowd is fabulous. I quickly made friends with the team from Canada who are there for the next month and have developed quite a fondness of my colorful neighbors to the north! Whenever I am there now, there is always someone who comes to my table...Austrian, Canadian, German etc.

Last night was Bingo night at the H&J as everyone calls it... What a blast! You could win a steak dinner at the hotel for a full card or a drink for a line :-) One of my favorite Canadians "George" is now the "caller" and he is great.

Lots of fun as always, I am still alive and breathing.

Photo of the day

Photo of the day: Why, YES, that is a Momma and Baby Camel in the back of a truck!

IDC ME- Burj Al Arab

Burj Al Arab

The pretty sail boat shaped building in the photos from 360 last time.

I was invited to my first Middle East forum, sponsored by IDC and McAfee Security.

The Burj is absolutely amazing. It was on the 27th floor (the top of the sail, and in the rotunda...) Quite the first conference.

Out of 100 or so CIO/ senior IT attendees there were 5 females and I was positioned in the 3rd row next to 2 of them in full abaya. Kind of like salt and pepper :-)

So I was the the "curiosity" of all. LOL....

During the coffee/breakfast break, I just stood to the side alone and watched in total immersion soaking it all in and quite happy to listen and watch.

Of course I had to raise my hand and ask the question to the panel:

"Everyone talks about cloud computing, what happens when there is no cloud"?

Point and case: In the MENA at the end of December all four undersea cables (which are the internet back bone)and the entire region had no internet access. I have encountered this once before and it took down my entire system, the symantec antivirus is cloud based and could not update and shut my OS completely down. I actually had to go in and boot through DOS and remove symantec from my boot file. Then I was able to boot into windows. I wanted to make sure that they understood the constraints of working in a country without enormous bandwidth. I think my point was well received. This is not America or Europe.

It has been a busy few weeks. A good busy. I am back in Al Ain and going to go for a massage tonight, to work out all the mach momentum brainstorming I have been doing in the last 30 days.

I can and do perform as a "social" person when at the circus (I.E. IDC conferences such as the one yesterday held at the top of the Burj Al Arab or 3 black tie dinners in a week) But 2 days of performing at the circus is socially exhausting for me. It drains my social bank. At that point all I want is to not talk out loud and listen....Does that make sense or am I just a crazy woman in the desert?

Whatever it is, I am happily winding my way through another adventure.But it is all just a journey and a wonderful one at that...I am happy I am alive and breathing another day to experience it all.

Mars and Venus

 

A visit from the frenchman, the greek and the american

 

Lunches with Barria

Of the 250 workers here at Al Nasr International there are 2 women in the company.

My self and Ms. Barria an accountant. She is so very happy to have a woman in the office. She brings me lunch everyday. Sometimes it is just an apple, orange or crackers...One day we had a traditional Syrian lunch of tomatoes, chili peppers, and potatoes and then an apple and orange to finish it off...The only problem is that she wont eat around men :-)

At least we have my office :-)

NoSuits4Me

This one is for you Roemer :-) Even the French are addicted to it :-)

A visit to the Buraimi Oman Office

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More later!

~ Susan

Friday: Driving To Dubai

It is Friday. Our one full day off in the UAE. Dr. Sowell says I should see Dubai... I would rather stay in bed and collapse from exhaustion. However, I rally and decide, yes, it would be a good thing to go and meet new people and see what everyone is talking about...The wonderful world of Dubai.

The drive to Dubai is uneventful and gives me time to think about where I am from and how I arrived here in the quietness of the car ride.

The drive is almost exactly the same in time (without traffic) from Al Ain to Dubai as the drive from South Bend to Chicago.

When we were kids in South Bend it was a HUGE deal to be able to go to "the big city" and see all of the tall buildings, people, just notice that everything is well...Different.

I felt like a kid again going from Al Ain (which is not small by any means, it has 3 universities, a museum, 2 five star hotels and lots of other incredible things but it is not Dubai) to Dubai. Wide eyed and breathing it all in...

Had I been in NYC I would have labeled myself as a gawky tourist...looking up at buildings and such. When I first arrive in an environment I am always afraid I will miss something...Sort of like I am in a "hyper awareness mode” I’m not very good at having conversations when I am in this mode because I am too busy looking at everything to read your lips AND comprehend what you are saying all while processing the minute details of everything in my visual spectrum. I most likely do NOT make a good travel partner on the first day if you are the sort that likes to chat it up. It is amazing I have had people tell me that when they first met me they thought I was "stuck up" or "aloof.” Just because I am, quiet...LOL

As we drive towards Dubai, it appears as an oasis...just popping out of the desert. Amazing architecture and beautiful glass everywhere. Spotlessly clean.

We arrive by the Jumeirah beach to meet some people. They are in a house FULL of expats...It really is like a mini United Nations, absolutely fabulous. Tanzania, Sweden, Brazil, Brits, U.S.... Etc. Completely fascinating and they all live together AND get along. Definitely a model for the world to follow.

We all walk out to the street as no one wants to drive if they have anything to drink (I am not quite comfortable enough to race around Dubai quite yet) and hop in a taxi. We pass Media City..., which I can tell I will be spending quite a bit of time meeting people there. Cisco, HP, Dell, Microsoft... all the major manufacturers have offices there. WOOHOOOO a Geeks dream all in one place! Once you park, you don't have to drive and perhaps get it all done in one day!

We arrive at the hotel where the brunch is and walk into the door...It is almost like Alice in Wonderland. A British Pub/Restaurant in the middle of the desert! I was quite surprised. Once again, it was the mini United Nations. Everyone has Friday off...They all come out for brunch, no matter where you are from. The food was amazing, So many fresh vegetables, pasta, and eggs, (if you eat it, fish, chicken, shepherds pie etc) I ate more than my share!

After stuffing our faces, we head out to The Palm Jumeirah Dubai, United Arab Emirates on "the trunk of the palm tree" which you can see from satellite:


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To meet up with a couple from SA (I think LOL). Another couple shows up and we decide to head back so that they can play 5-card stud and relax! I am most likely the only American over the age of 21 that does NOT know how to play 5-card stud poker..., which is ok with me. I take over the kitchen and cook for everyone...Rice, fabulous curry with chicken. I eat rice and sauce so good...It made me miss Emily's cooking and Bicol! YUMMMMY.

We relaxed for a nice while and then started the drive back to Al Ain. I am very glad I rallied instead of being a recluse. The culture is amazing in Dubai. More later...

I hope all are well...out for now.